Selections made for final two Wharf Street homes, but Bluffton awaits closings

The Wharf Street Redevelopment moved closer to completion with the selection of the last two remaining homes in the affordable housing project Tuesday, but Bluffton officials are keeping applications open with the potential that purchasing agreements don’t lead to closings.

“I’ll wait until the check cashes,” said Mayor Lisa Sulka, who welcomed the news but cautioned against calling it a day after a meeting of the town’s Affordable Housing Committee.

An applicant who previously selected the three-bedroom 51 Wharf St. withdrew from the program last fall. That home, along with the three-bedroom 50 Wharf St. selected Jan. 17, await closing with area lenders, which are still processing mortgages, said town planner Danny Wilson, adding that he’s not aware of any credit problems holding up finalization.

Homes at 12 Robertson St, and 11 Robertson St. closed for about half of their appraised value in November. The federal stimulus money that provided the bulk of financing for the $1.2 million initiative also set requirements that prices cannot result in applicants spending more than 30 percent of their monthly income on mortgage principal, interest and homeowner’s insurance.

The town will work out purchasing agreements for the newly selected homes — the one-bedroom 13 Robertson St and two-bedroom 48 Wharf St. — in the coming weeks, Wilson said.

“We’re moving into hopefully finding all six homes (an owner) in the very near future,” he said.

The project, which replaced two blighted structures last spring, has come under fire for falling behind on its timeline and for large-scale withdrawals of applicants, but Sulka pointed to new requests for private residential development along Robertson Street headed to the Historic Preservation Commission as one sign of success.

“It really is capturing attention,” she said.

The town plans to hold either an open house to sell the remaining homes or a celebration of the program’s conclusion in the next two months.

In other affordable housing news:

• Wilson said the town isn’t yet accepting applications to its stick-built home repair program that offers grants up to $25,000 for more serious problems through the Lowcountry Council of Governments because the $142,000 federally administered grant isn’t yet available. It is, however, accepting applications for the more modest program of up to $5,000 for “safe and dry” repairs to manufactured and stick-built homes.

• Town Council will discuss how to use upwards of $150,000 in proceeds from Wharf Street sales at an upcoming strategy session Friday and Saturday at the Law Enforcement Center off Buckwalter Parkway.